


The Definitions of Eugene Fitzherbert

by Challenger



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:58:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22979503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Challenger/pseuds/Challenger
Summary: There are many words that could be used to define Eugene Fitzherbert. These are just a few.
Relationships: Edmund & Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Lance Strongbow, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 72





	1. Rogue

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote these drabbles back in October for Eugene Appreciation Week on Tumblr, but never got around to posting them here. So in honor of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure ending today, I thought it would be a good time to finally add them.

_Rogue (n.) - A dishonest or unprincipled man; a person whose behavior one disapproves of, but is nonetheless likable or attractive_

_Post-Tangled, Pre-Tangled: Before Ever After_

“I just don’t get why they couldn’t get my nose right,” Eugene complained as he tore down another wanted poster.

Rapunzel pulled the paper out of his hand and looked it over. The two of them were working on taking down all of the posters around Corona, now that he was no longer a wanted criminal. Rescuing and returning the Lost Princess had earned him a clean slate, and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste. Technically, the guards were supposed to be taking the posters down, but Eugene didn’t trust them to get the job done anytime soon. They had made it clear that they still weren’t his biggest fans.

“They got everything else right,” Rapunzel said before putting the poster in the bag with the rest they had gathered.

“Exactly! They had to be doing it on purpose!” Eugene threw his arms up in the air. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this!”

Rapunzel gave him a look, and Eugene sheepishly looked to the side. Okay, so maybe he did know what he did to deserve it. As far as he knew, he hadn’t stolen anything from the kingdom’s poster maker, but he’d stolen from a lot of people, so it was possible that he’d just forgotten. Or he had stolen from someone the poster maker cared about. Actually, he wasn’t even sure who made the posters. There were several possibilities.

Still, it didn’t change the fact that it bothered him.

For the longest time, he’d split himself into two people. There was Eugene Fitzherbert, the orphan that no one wanted. And then there was Flynn Rider, the roguish thief who had wanted posters to go around. It wasn’t necessarily the “wanted” he had desired growing up, but it was better than nothing. It was better than indifference.

Based on everything he knew, rogues were supposed to be attractive and liked, despite all of their wrongdoings. Yet, Flynn Rider wasn’t even given the decency of having a wanted poster that truly looked like him. Other criminals were given proper posters, and they weren’t anywhere near as charming as he was!

So what had he done wrong? He’d taken the name of a beloved book character, and Eugene knew there were more fans of “The Tales of Flynnigan Rider” than just himself. Had that made him less likable to people? Did they feel like he was insulting the character? Or was it just that he hadn’t been as good of a rogue as he’d thought?

Maybe it was for the best. After all, that wasn’t who he was anymore. He was Eugene Fitzherbert, boyfriend to Princess Rapunzel of Corona. And…

“You know,” Rapunzel said, pulling him out of his thoughts, “with as many wanted posters as Flynn Rider has, I bet that there’s at least one out there where they got everything right.”

“You think so?”

Rapunzel nodded. “I know so, and I’ll make sure that we find it.”

Eugene smiled at her. He was Eugene Fitzherbert, boyfriend of Princess Rapunzel of Corona. And that was much better than being a rogue.


	2. Thief

_Thief (n.) - A person who steals another person’s property, especially by stealth and without using force or violence_

_Pre-Tangled_

“I can’t believe you thought becoming thieves was a good idea!”

He turned and looked at Lance in surprise. Becoming a thief had never been Eugene’s idea. No, it had been Lance that had convinced him that it was a waste of time to keep waiting for someone to adopt him or come back for him. It was better for them to take control and create better lives for themselves. And as orphans with nothing, becoming thieves was the best way to make it happen. Eugene agreed and suggested that they change their names, because Eugene Fitzherbert and Arnwaldo Schnitz didn’t sound like thieves. Flynn Rider and Lance Strongbow on the other hand, those were names worth remembering. And the Flynn Rider in the books was everything Eugene wanted to be.

They had been doing pretty good since they started years ago and had made a bit of a name for themselves if the wanted posters he was collecting were anything to go by.

But this time, they may have bitten off more than they could chew.

“It was your idea! And so was this job!” He pointed out, before glancing around the corner.

It was supposed to be, according to Lance, an easy job. He’d overheard that a duke had recently come into possession of a priceless jewel. Said duke also wasn’t known for having a large quantity of guards in his home. They’d pulled off similar jobs before, and with it being just the two of them, it’d be a hefty payday.

What Lance had failed to overhear was the fact that the duke had become more paranoid after acquiring said priceless jewel, and had decided that more guards were needed to protect himself and his belongings. They’d come in overconfident, and less careful than they should have been, which was why they had been spotted.

Now, they were trying to make their way out of the house without a priceless jewel in their possession without getting caught. All in all, not their most successful heist. Especially considering the guards had made it clear that they were going for lethal means to keep them from escaping.

“I see a window. Let’s go,” he said to Lance. If they could get out of the house, they’d be in the clear.

The two of them ran to the window and forced it open. They were lucky that they weren’t far from the ground, so actually getting out wasn’t a problem. Of course, that meant that the guards also would be right behind them if they noticed them.

Which they did, because nothing had gone right with this job.

They ran into a nearby forest and found a place to hide, remaining silent until they were certain that the guards had passed by.

“Flynn Rider and Lance Strongbow live to steal another day,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, just without anything to show for it.”

“Lance, buddy, we’ll find something better in the next town.” 

And hopefully that something wouldn’t almost get them killed.

He didn’t mind being a thief, not really, but it wasn’t really how he wanted to spend the rest of his life. One day, Flynn Rider was going to have to steal something that would let him put thieving behind him.


	3. Joker

_Joker (n.) - A person who is fond of joking_

_Pre-Tangled_

Eugene had figured out a long time ago that making someone laugh was the best way to put them at ease and off guard. As a thief, it was a great way to make it easier for him to steal. If a mark didn’t think they should take him seriously, it made it easier for him or Lance to get the drop on them. Of course, just because he sometimes used being a joker to his advantage, didn’t mean that he always intended to.

Like now.

He hadn’t meant to throw his Flynn Rider book off the cliff. He especially hadn’t meant to throw it off the cliff in front of their mark. Either the action itself, or the look on his face when it happened, had made their mark think they were completely harmless and he hadn’t realized Lance had pick-pocketed him.

Of course, a successful job didn’t make him feel any better about losing his favorite book.

As he looked down, he reasoned that the cliff itself wasn’t that big. He could probably climb down it. And there wasn’t water beneath them, so it wasn’t like his book would be completely ruined. It sounded like it might have hit a bird when it fell, so maybe it ended up in a tree. He could climb a tree. He could get the book back.

“Flynn, what are you doing?” Lance asked.

“What’s it look like I’m doing? I’m getting my book back,” he said as he got ready to climb down.

Lance laughed. “You’re joking, right? You have that book memorized, it’s not like you need it anymore.”

He paused. That was true. He’d read that Flynn Rider book so many times, he knew all of the lines by heart. He even tried to think of ways that he could use some of his namesake’s best phrases himself. But just because he had it memorized, didn’t mean he didn’t need the book. It was his. He liked being able to read it whenever he wanted to.

Still…

He didn’t know where the book landed. It could take hours to actually find it, and while their mark hadn’t noticed he’d been robbed when he left, he soon would realize it. The two of them needed to be long gone before he came back. Getting caught because they went back for a book wouldn’t be good for their reputation. Or his reputation, because he wasn’t positive that Lance would stick around and search for the book with him.

It would be better to let the book go. Even if that wasn’t what he wanted. He could always find another copy if he really needed it.

“Of course I’m joking. I’m not going to risk my neck going after a book,” he said with a small, fake, laugh. “Now come on, let’s get out of here.”

As they walked away, he glanced back over his shoulder, trying to push away the feeling that he was leaving a part of himself behind.


	4. Son

_Son (n.) - A boy or man in relation to either or both of his parents_

_Post-Return of the King_

Growing up in the orphanage, Eugene had often imagined who his parents could be and what they were like. No one knew who they were, or even where Eugene had come from, so he had plenty of options. Explorers searching for treasure was his favorite one, because it always left him with the hope that they would come back for him once they found it. Except no one ever came, and no one ever adopted him.

Eventually, he’d just given up on having parents of his own. Either his birth parents were dead, or they just didn’t want him. If that was the case, he didn’t need them. He was better off without them.

And then he wound up in the Dark Kingdom and met Edmund.

Edmund certainly wasn’t what he had expected for his father. Eugene had never considered the possibility that his father was a king of an abandoned kingdom. The idea just sounded crazy, and yet it wasn’t. Of course, considering everything that had been happening, maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised.

Still, being a king was only the beginning.

Edmund was a strange man who said all of his thoughts out loud, his only companion was a crow who had a frequent habit of getting lost in boots, and he had sent him away when he was a baby. Sure, it was to protect him, but that didn’t make it any less hurtful.

So Eugene felt he was perfectly justified in not necessarily wanting to have a relationship with Edmund. He needed to sort out his feelings.

But after spending more time around the man, maybe he was having second thoughts.

Edmund had his quirks, but he did care. He’d kept track of Eugene throughout the years as best as he could by using his ravens. Admittedly, knowing that ravens had been following him around for pretty much his entire life was a little weird, but Eugene supposed that weird was just part of his life at this point. Plus Edmund enjoyed the Flynn Rider books just as much as he did, so they had that in common.

And it was probably safe to say that there were worse dads out there.

He wasn’t exactly ready to call Edmund, “Dad”, all the time yet. It might slip out on occasion, but he still needed more time to fully accept it. Eugene wouldn’t admit it, though maybe Rapunzel or Lance would be able to tell, but he was a little scared. Scared that he would warm up to Edmund and fully embrace him, only for the man to waltz right back out of his life.

Despite that fear, he was still willing to give Edmund a chance. He would try to get to know the man better, and maybe someday, he’d even get him to tell him more about his mom. At the very least, he’d never have to imagine what his parents were like. For better or worse, now he’d actually know.


	5. Prince

_Prince (n.) - The son of a monarch_

_Pre-Day of the Animals_

When Rapunzel first told him that she was the Lost Princess, a part of Eugene was afraid. It was funny, because he should have been scared about going back into the kingdom. He had just escaped from his own hanging after all. That wasn’t what he was afraid of though. He was afraid that they would never let him near this amazing woman again. From what he knew about princesses, they were supposed to marry princes or someone with noble blood. They didn’t marry thieves or orphans.

But if anyone deserved to be a princess, and to have a family that longed to find her so badly that they sent lanterns into the sky every year on her birthday, it was Rapunzel. He would push aside any fears he had, and make sure that she made it back to her real family.

He was a little surprised when he wasn’t arrested on sight the moment he stepped into Corona, or when he and Rapunzel went to the castle to have someone inform the King and Queen that she believed herself to be the Lost Princess. He was even more surprised when after accepting and embracing Rapunzel, the Queen had pulled him into the embrace as well.

King Fredrick and Queen Arianna pardoned him, and allowed him to stay in the castle. The surprises kept coming. They allowed him to continue to date Rapunzel. No one vocally said anything against it, though Eugene suspected that some were probably still a bit wary of him. Still, no one was telling Rapunzel to stay away from him. She was happy, he was happy.

It felt too good to be true.

A part of Eugene wondered if everyone was accepting to ensure Rapunzel was happy. That they thought eventually she would decide he wasn’t worth her time, or a prince from another kingdom would arrive and Rapunzel would see that there were better choices out there. Or maybe someone would eventually decide to tell Rapunzel that she should be looking for someone who was royalty, someone better suited to one day assist her in ruling her kingdom.

Eventually he made an offhand remark about it to Rapunzel, and felt relief when she assured him he had nothing to fear.

“There’s no law about who I have to marry,” she said as she showed him one of the books about Corona’s laws. “And anyone I do marry, would become Prince Consort, so it doesn’t really matter. Prince Eugene Fitzherbert has a good ring to it, don’t you think?”

Eugene smiled, agreed, and gave her a kiss. When Rapunzel was ready for marriage, the choice would be hers. If she wanted to marry him, no one would be able to stop her. If someone wanted to complain about his lack of heritage, it wouldn’t matter.

And upon meeting King Edmund and learning that he was his father, well no one would be able to complain about a lack of noble blood on his part. Eugene really didn’t care about being a prince, but he had to admit it was nice knowing he could honestly claim to be one if he ever needed to. Or wanted to, because there were a few people that Eugene wanted to tell just to see the looks on their faces. 

Of course not caring about the title didn’t change the fact that he needed to be a good prince for Rapunzel and for Corona. He wanted to make sure she knew that she could depend on him to help her when she needed it. So when she expressed interest in joining Keira, Catalina, and Varian in going to return Keira and Catalina’s stolen goods, Eugene saw a great opportunity to practice.

“Are you sure, you’re fine with handling all of this on your own?” Rapunzel asked.

“Sunshine, you deserve to have a day off. I might not be able to get everything done as fast as you, but things will be fine. You’re leaving Corona in good hands.”

He would be able to handle the kingdom for a day, no problem. Hey, how hard could it be?


End file.
